


Things happen

by MaryaDmitrievnaLikesSundays



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Death, Gun Violence, Hurt Peter, Hurt Peter Parker, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Whump, School, School Shootings, Shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:46:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryaDmitrievnaLikesSundays/pseuds/MaryaDmitrievnaLikesSundays
Summary: Flash hurts the wrong kid. Peter has to try and save everyone.





	Things happen

Peter's day had been going so well. He had aced his geometry test, gotten a discount on his breakfast, and his chemistry class had an expirement planned for the day. He was actually smiling on his way to class, but of course, nothing good ever lasted.

 

He hadn't seen Flash all day, but when he passed him in the hall on his way to their chemistry class, he stopped walking out of shock, everyone behind him shouting that they were going to be late. He quickly shuffled forward to catch up with him. Flash was slowly walking alone, none of his cronies surrounding him. His head was hung slightly, a stark contrast from his usual corky stature. However, the most obvious problem was the huge shiner on Flash's face.

 

Peter walked in time with him, willing to be late to see what was going on, because Flash would never let another kid beat him up like that.

 

"Um, Flash? Are you alright--"

 

"Yes, Parker," Flash snapped. Wow, he hadnt even used an insulting nickname. Something must have been really wrong.

 

"Are you sure? Because--"

 

" _Yes_ , Parker."

 

Peter opened his mouth to ask again, but they had made it to class and Flash shuffled to the lab table furthest  from Peter's and sat silently, actually listening to the teacher's instructions. Peter snuck glances at him every few minutes, even dropping his flaming magnesium on the table, starting a small fire that the quiet freshman next to him had to put out.

 

"Hey, freshman, try to keep the building in one piece, alright? God." Peter was almost glad to hear Flash's taunts, a sign that the world was shifting back into place.

 

The freshman, named Alan if Peter remembered correctly, dipped his head and muttered, "I don't really appreciate that."

 

Peter tried to whisper that it was best to ignore Flash, but before he could he retorted, "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of the F you're probably getting." A weak insult, but the class laughed and Alan only flushed deeper,  pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his long nose.

 

"Please, stop," he said, a little louder this time.

 

Flash, getting more of his mojo back, laughed, "How did you even get it in this school, anyways? Whose dick did you have to suck to--"

 

Peter's hair stood on end just before a bang resonated through the room and Flash crumpled to the ground. Peter slowly swiveled his head to see Alan pointing a gun at where Flash had been standing mere seconds before. For just a secomd, no one moved, then people started yelling and pushing each other to get out of the door. Only Peter, Alan, Flash, and their teacher remained.

 

Mrs. Mathur, who was white as a sheet, approached Alan with her arms out like he was a frightened deer. "Alan, honey, just put down the--"

 

"Get out, miss."

 

"Alan, really--"

 

Another deafening bang and Mrs. Mathur was on the ground, her face reduced to bones, blood, and shrapnel. Peter didn't need to check for a pulse. She was dead.

 

Alan was breathing hard, but he almost seemed happy. That sent a spike of fear through Peter's heart, but he didn't have time to be scared. He ran over to where Flash was splayed out in a pool of his own blood and was relieved to see him still awake. The bullet had hit his side amd was streaming blood, but Peter had no idea if it went through or not. He kneeled next to him quickly, meeting his frantic eyes and telling him to slow his breathing.

 

"Hey, Flash, I'm going to have to turn you, alright?" He ignored Flash clearly shaking his head. "It's going to hurt like hell but I have to make sure it went through." He fought to keep his voice steady and grabbed Flash before he could weasel out of it. Luckily, Flash was weak enough that his struggles didn't deter Peter in the slightest. A scream tore out of his throat and the hole pulsed harder as Peter lifted him up to look for an exit wound. He didn't see one and immediately let go, apologizing profusely at a pained groan.

 

There was no exit mark, so the bullet was lodged somewhere in Flash's abdomen. He thought back to all the classes with Tony and Steve about gun damage and decided that it had probably landed somewhere in Flash's stomach. That gave them about twenty minutes until Flash's stomach acids ate his organs up, and that was only if no splintered bones destroyed other organs and he didn't lose all his blood immediately. Fuck. Fuck. Suddenly, Flash's eyes widened even further.

 

"You go too, Peter, unless you want to join her." The voice came from right behind him. He slowly turned, keeping one protecting hand on Flash's chest, and was looking right down the barrel of the gun that had already claimed one life. People were screaming amd sprinting through the hallways.

 

"Alan, come on. Don't do this." Alan just laughed joylessly.

 

"Seriously? You're taking his side? He's fucked you over more times than me." Oh, shit, Alan was bullied. The media would have a fucking field day with that.

 

Alright, he could do this. He was Spiderman. Spiderman hadn't failed yet; if he had, Peter would have been long dead. "I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm trying to keep him alive."

 

Alan's face hardened again. "Just get out of the way," he sneered, gesturing with a gun in a nonchalant way that scared Peter far more than the malice on his face. "I just want Flash, not you,"

 

And, of course, Flash couldn't keep his mouth closed.

 

"C-come on man, I d-didn't do shit!" Flash was stuttering and coughing through the words but his overwhelming and ever present cockiness persisted as best as it could.

 

Alan let out a scream and kicked the lab table, too weak to even dent it. " _Yes, you did_! You just don't remember! I'm just another tiny freshman for you to pick on! I've lost so much and you didn't care!"

 

"And so have I."

 

During the fifteen second conversation, Peter had ripped a piece of his shirt off and shoved it into Flash's wound and was pressing down as hard as he could without doing any more damage, trying to ignore the fact that it was already almost soaked through. Now, he was deliberately shielding Flash, but he held his head as high ass he could.

 

Alan faltered. "Bullshit. You have it better than almost everyone here."

 

"No. No, I don't. But I'm turning out okay because I'm trying to be better than what happened to me." 

 

Peter hoped his words would calm Alan down, but it only made things worse. He heard a crack and gasped openly once he felt the probably too-familiar sensation of a bullet entering his body. He thanked his lucky stars it had only been in his leg, but soon wished he could have taken that thought back. It had gone straight through the main artery in his left thigh, and now Peter was bleeding even more than Flash, who was getting worryingly quiet.

 

He gritted his teeth and continued, the pain obstructing his mind and leaving him only with the idea to relate to who might be his killer in a few minutes. He pressed down on the hole harder than he had on Flash.

 

"Alan, both of my parents died when I was nine. I've grown up with just about no money and I have barely two friends. Last December, my uncle got shot right in front of me and died, too. I don't want to have to watch that happen again, and that's why I'm working so hard to keep this asshole alive, alright? I can't go through that again, I just can't." By the end of his miniature speech, Peter had tears running down his face, and he didn't know if it was from pain, fear, sorrow, or a mixture of all three. Even so, what he said seemed to work. Alan had lowered his gun and his eyes alike, suddenly introspective. Peter kept his gaze on Alan, incredibly concerned that Flash's labored breathing and pained whimpers had long since stopped but more concerned with keeping Alan docile until help came.

 

"How are you still alive, Peter?"

 

Peter thought Alan was talking about his emotional state, but looked down to see that he had lost almost twice the blood a normal human contained. His bones must be working extra hard to use his healing powers and make as much blood for him as possible. At least the wound was already starting to close.

 

Peter knew he had to distract Alan so that he wouldn't have to explain his superhero identity. "Man, look, just put the gun down and turn yourself in, alright? We can figure this out."

 

Alan's eyes widened. "No. No, they'll lock me up forever."

 

"They'll find you either way, but if you stop right now, I promise that I'll get whoever I can to help you out. I know a lot of people," he said, thinking of Tony and his array of lawyers. His eyes started welling up as the thought of his mentor led to May's shining face in his mind's eye, but knew that if he stopped trying to end the situation for even a second to reminisce everything would fall apart.

 

At that very moment, he heard sirens approaching, and so did Alan. His face hardened with a grim sense of finality. He could feel himself getting weaker but kept his eyes on the Alan and his hands on both bullet wounds. "Not if I can help it." Another bang sounded and everything went black.

 

\-----

 

Peter moved his finger. Under it was something soft.

 

He listened hard. There was a loud beeping.

 

He opened his eyes. He was greeted with a bright white ceiling.

 

He was in a hospital.

 

Peter smiled and tried to sit up, but was greeted with a sharp stabbing pain. He cried out and flopped back down.

 

Suddenly, there was long brown hair tickling his face. Despite his pain, Peter only smiled wider.

 

"Peter, oh God," May moaned and pulled Peter into the gentlest hug she could. Even that hurt, but he would put up with it if it meant she felt better,

 

"May, I'm alright. I'm okay. I lived."

 

May pulled back, tears shining in her eyes and a weary grin on her face. "Barely."

 

Suddenly, Peter remembered who he should be worried about more. He sat up again and held back another cry. He tried to stand but May's gentle hands pushed him back down. "What is it, sweetheart?"

 

"Flash--uh, Eugene. Is he okay?"

 

May nodded and Peter let out a breathy laugh in relief, pushing his hair out of his face. "Good. Good." His face scrunched back up in concern. "What about Alan?"

 

"Who?"

 

"Alan. The kid that shot me?"

 

May looked pained. "I'll just...go get Tony." She shuffled out worryingly quickly, but soon she was back with an incredibly disheveled Tony. Peter felt nervous now, wondering if Tony would be disappointed that he let himself get shot.

 

"Hey--hey, Mr. Stark."

 

Tony pulled him in just as May had, careful but tender, and Peter was simultaneously confused and glad. "Kid, I thought you were dead."

 

"Uh, yeah. But I'm not!" He added quickly.

 

Tony pulled back, just as May had, and said, "You almost were."

 

Peter just nodded. He still had Alan on his mind.

 

"So, um, Alan. Is he..." Peter didn't need to finish.

 

Tony told him all about how Flash had barely pulled through, how if Peter hadn't been there he would have died and Peter's heart swelled, but quickly deflated again when he heard that Alan had hit him in the main artery, then in the lung, and when the police barged in Alan had taken his own life before anyone else could take the rest of it.

 

Two dead. But so many more alive. That's what Peter told himself. People die. He couldn't save all of them. People die, bullies win, and things happen.

 

Things happen.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hell yeah also if you liked it or saw something I could do better leave a comment bc I Love Validation just as much as I Love Getting Better


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